Author Archives: Hank Stephenson and Ben Giles

The 2014 legislative session will forever be remembered as the year lawmakers attempted to approve a bill allowing religious-minded business owners to discriminate against gay people, landing Arizona in the national spotlight as much as the immigration measure, SB1070, previously did. But lawmakers debated dozens of other bills that made interesting headlines and many that flew below the radar. The Arizona Capitol Times takes a stroll down memory lane to recall some of the most attention-grabbing bills of 2014.

With marriage licenses just starting to be issued to gay couples across the state, lawmakers are already talking about ways to protect religious organizations and businesses from being forced to participate in gay marriages, and SB1062 is back on the forefront of many minds.

When Rep. Doris Goodale declined to run for re-election to focus on her recovery from a 2013 stroke, four Republicans lined up to replace her. But none of them are in the mold of Goodale, a moderate Republican who supported Medicaid expansion and the Common Core education standards.

Despite earning the ire of the right wing of their party when they supported Medicaid expansion, Republican Reps. Bob Robson and Jeff Dial are holding strong in their races to the House and Senate, respectively.

A new face will be replacing longtime legislator Andy Tobin in the state House in January, as three-time legislative candidate Noel Campbell took the lead over former lawmaker Linda Gray for the second seat in Legislative District 1.